Note 6 — Chapter II
Reading edition
This word is erroneously supposed to be a corruption of "sec," or dry, but both Canary and sherry sack of old times (as well as the present) was a sweet and rich wine, and the name could not, therefore, have been so derived. The term sac is more likely to be a contraction of the word "saccharine," or it may have been adopted in consequence of the wine being made from half-dried grapes.